Henry Grabar

You have no doubt heard of microbes. Tiny little things. But what are they exactly? What do they do? Where do they come from? And how do they affect you? Well, it's actually a fascinating topic, and here to explain it is Jake Robinson. Jake is a microbial ecologist and author of the book Invisible Friends, How Microbes Shape Our Lives and the World Around Us. Hi, Jake.

Welcome to Something You Should Know. Hi, Mike. Thank you very much. So what are microbes?

Welcome to Something You Should Know. Hi, Mike. Thank you very much. So what are microbes?

Welcome to Something You Should Know. Hi, Mike. Thank you very much. So what are microbes?

What is it about them that fascinates you? And why is it important to shine a light on this?

What is it about them that fascinates you? And why is it important to shine a light on this?

What is it about them that fascinates you? And why is it important to shine a light on this?

Isn't that interesting that the general sense is that microbes, little germy things are bad for you when you say that 99% of them are not. So I wonder how they got that reputation.

Isn't that interesting that the general sense is that microbes, little germy things are bad for you when you say that 99% of them are not. So I wonder how they got that reputation.

Isn't that interesting that the general sense is that microbes, little germy things are bad for you when you say that 99% of them are not. So I wonder how they got that reputation.

So I have all these microbes, probably millions, billions of microbes in my body, yes? Mm-hmm, yep.

So I have all these microbes, probably millions, billions of microbes in my body, yes? Mm-hmm, yep.

So I have all these microbes, probably millions, billions of microbes in my body, yes? Mm-hmm, yep.

emitting from our body but we're also ingesting and we're also inhaling millions of microscopic organisms every single day and so again it's this kind of two-way exchange between our bodies and our environments and these microbes trillions you say that i have in my body do they all play a role or is this just very benign they're passing through or why are they there

emitting from our body but we're also ingesting and we're also inhaling millions of microscopic organisms every single day and so again it's this kind of two-way exchange between our bodies and our environments and these microbes trillions you say that i have in my body do they all play a role or is this just very benign they're passing through or why are they there

emitting from our body but we're also ingesting and we're also inhaling millions of microscopic organisms every single day and so again it's this kind of two-way exchange between our bodies and our environments and these microbes trillions you say that i have in my body do they all play a role or is this just very benign they're passing through or why are they there

And do we all have basically the same microbes in our body? I mean, what are the chances that the microbes in my body are more or less the same as the ones in your body? Or are they really different?

And do we all have basically the same microbes in our body? I mean, what are the chances that the microbes in my body are more or less the same as the ones in your body? Or are they really different?

And do we all have basically the same microbes in our body? I mean, what are the chances that the microbes in my body are more or less the same as the ones in your body? Or are they really different?

And if you were to, you know, crack each of us open and take a look, like is one better than the other or they're just different?